This album is included in the following sets:
This set contains the following albums:
- Producer's Note
- Full Track Listing
- Cover Art
Once the rehearsal over, Strawinsky was approached by some onlookers (possibly reporters and music critics). An unknown lady, carried beyond herself, enthusiastically uttered: "Maître, votre Messe est beaucoup plus belle que celles de Mozart..." Strawinsky at once reacted: "Mais non! Pas du tout, madame... Non, non, non!" Someone then took a photo of the whole group around the composer. I happened to be quite close to him. The photo (a quarter of a page) appeared in the culture section of "O Correio da Manhã", then one of the country's top papers. Strawinsky was quite a small man - 1,60 m, I would say - and I stood behind him. I recall that I smiled at that foolish commentary and the photo testified to my reaction…”
The two recordings with which this release starts and finishes were both made at the instigation of Francisco A. M. Joffily B. Mello, who this year sent the original tape reel to Pristine for transfer and remastering – and to be released publicly. Earlier this year he wrote to me: “I was 20 years old at the time and took myself the initiative of hiring a professional recording team for the job. The mike was practically invisible, hanging from the church's altar together with lamps. The recorder - a Nagra, if memory serves me well - was operated by a professional from a small cubicle behind the altar. The only copy made was presented to Claudio Abbado when I met him in 1973 in Milan. The sound is quite acceptable and the performance - particularly the Mass - had that unique Strawinsky "irregular", inimitable beat so characteristic of his conducting...”
The two recordings from that concert of 8 September 1963 are presented here with two recordings Stravinsky made in 1946 in New York – his newly-written Symphony in Three Movements, a work he regarded as his “war symphony”, made with the New York Philharmonic some four days after its première, and his 1930 work, Symphony of Psalms, with the CBS Symphony and a mixed chorus – both recordings I felt could particularly benefit from a revival with XR remastering.
Of the two Rio works, the Mass presents the composer’s most recent work in this set. Written between 1944 and 1948, it “exhibits the austere, Neoclassic, anti-Romantic aesthetic that characterizes his work from about 1923 to 1951. The Mass also represents one of only a handful of extant pieces by Stravinsky that was not commissioned. Part of the motivation behind its composition has been cited by Robert Craft and others as the product of a spiritual necessity, as Stravinsky intended the work to be used functionally.” (Wikipedia)
Finally the “bonus” recording here (in the we have Craft at the podium rather than Stravinsky), is the Symphonies d'instruments à vent, first performed in 1921 and written in tribute to Debussy. The composer revised the work in 1947.
Andrew Rose
STRAVINSKY conducts Stravinsky
STRAVINSKY Mass, K077 (1948)
1. 1. Kyrie (3:21)
2. 2. Gloria (4:30)
3. 3. Credo (5:47)
4. 4. Sanctus (4:05)
5. 5. Agnus dei (3:55)
Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional
Associação de Canto Coral (dir. Cleophe Pearson de Mattos)
conducted by Igor Stravinsky
rec. live: 8 September 1963, Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Candelária, Rio de Janeiro
STRAVINSKY Symphony in Three Movements, K073 (1946)
6. 1st mvt. - Overture: Allegro (9:51)
7. 2nd mvt. - Andante; Interlude: L'istesso tempo (5:32)
8. 3rd mvt. - Con moto (6:08)
Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York
conducted by Igor Stravinsky
rec. 28 January 1946, Carnegie Hall, New York City
STRAVINSKY Symphony of Psalms, K052 (1930)
9. I. Exaudi orationem meam Domine (3:18)
10. II. Expectans expectavi Dominum (6:06)
11. III. Alleluia Laudate Dominum (12:08)
Columbia Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra
with mixed chorus
conducted by Igor Stravinsky
rec. 19 December 1946, Liederkranz Hall, New York City
12. STRAVINSKY Symphonies of Wind Instruments, K036 (1921) (9:23)
Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional
conducted by Robert Craft
rec. live: 8 September 1963, Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Candelária, Rio de Janeiro
XR Remastered by Andrew Rose
Cover artwork based on a photograph of Stravinsky
Special thanks to Francisco A. M. Joffily B. Mello
Total duration: 74:04
